Many retail organisations have gone through a significantly turbulent period, working hard to keep the lights on. For the last 12 to 18 months, they have been coping with supply chain issues, pricing optimisation after-effects, and systems producing information that still does not help them with...
The retail sector continues to experience rapid innovation and disruption, reflecting an ongoing transformation of consumer behavior and preferences that affects how and for what people shop. Pressure is continuing to mount for retailers heading into 2023—liquidity is falling as inventory and...
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, e-commerce sales (internet shopping and mail order) made up roughly 5.4% of retail sales in October 2000, excluding autos and gas stations. 1 That figure has risen steadily and is now close to 21% ( Figure 1 ). Since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 and...
Retail reorganizations fail at an alarming rate. While nearly half of all large retail Chapter 11 cases that begin with aspirations of reorganizing ultimately liquidate, only a small fraction of mega cases in other industries end in a liquidation. As a result of the retail business model and...
As I pen my guest editor column for this edition of the Journal of Corporate Renewal focused on retail, it is the first week of 2023, and retail is once again challenged. Inflation is high, consumer confidence is down, and inventory levels remain challenged. A number of large retailers appear to be...
Join retail experts Ian Fredericks and Brad Friedman for an update on the current state of retail, including trends, observations, and predictions. How will the pandemic’s effects on demand for goods and services materialize in 2022? Join us to ask questions and hear answers from experienced...
In late March 2020, as the potential extent of devastation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic was becoming clear, a headline in The New York Times declared: “Scary Times for U.S. Companies Spell Boom for Restructuring Advisers.” There were more than 8,000 permanent brick-and-mortar store closures...
For owners of retail and mixed-use real estate facing distress, it is tempting to blame their economic woes solely on the COVID-19 pandemic. This explanation is attractive because it leaves them blameless, is seemingly self-evident, and does not compel them to justify their past actions or explain...
Secured term loan and revolver lenders in retail bankruptcy cases often leave money on the table because they do not understand how their security interests in a debtor’s “accounts” under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) extend to the proceeds of sale of a debtor’s real property interests,...
As most restructuring professionals would attest, 2021 was a historically slow year for corporate bankruptcy filings. Across the industry, filings in all chapters were down almost 25% from 2020 levels, and November 2021 recorded the fewest cases with a $10 million liability threshold since 2015...
